Shelby + Michael's Ironwood Wedding

From the Bride: Michael and I were both born and raised in Bowling Green, so it was only fitting for us to get married in our hometown and the town in which we became friends. Our goal when wedding planning was making the day our day but also enjoyable for all our friends and family. We began to tour venues and Ironwood Farm blew us away. Next, still at Ironwood for our tour, we eagerly decided on May 7th, 2022, Derby Day with plans to have an all-out Kentucky wedding. After over a year of planning, our day arrived.

We followed the tradition of burying a bottle of bourbon at our wedding site to ward off any rain. Despite Kentucky’s history of rainy Derby Days, the bottle did its job. The bourbon bottle tradition also made for some fond memories as we dug the bottle back up and shared a celebratory toast with our wedding party. Now, with getting married on Derby Day in Kentucky, we had to get creative with incorporating many wonderful derby and uniquely Kentucky details to our celebration. We encouraged guests to dress in their Derby best attire, including hats and fascinators. Our wedding party also participated in the theme with the men wearing unique derby/Kentucky themed socks and my bridesmaids each wore a fascinator following the ceremony.

To make our day even more special and memorable, Michael and I decided to write each other a letter and meet to read them together. We stood back-to-back and read our letters. This was a wonderful and intimate moment for us for us and our families. The letter reading and a family prayer gave us a chance to feel one another’s presence and still have a chance to interact before the ceremony without doing a “first look”.

We had a few sentimental items sprinkled throughout the ceremony. When deciding on what flowers I wanted for my bouquet, it only seemed fitting that I carry blue hydrangeas down the aisle. Not just as my “something blue” but also to honor my mother’s father who passed 6 months before I was born. Growing up at my grandmother’s house, every spring I watched as a wall full of blue hydrangeas would bloom in remembrance of him. Attached to my bouquet is the first piece of jewelry that my mom’s father gave to my grandmother after they married, a gold cross necklace. Other charms on my bouquet were both mine and Michael’s high school class rings, to signify our friendship and the start of our relationship. And the last two charms were our Fraternity and Sorority lavalier letters to represent our growth during college. Speaking of gifts and details, during the year we started dating I gave Michael a Disney pin from the Pixar movie “Up” and he wore it on his boutonniere. These were small touches just for us.

We had our DJ play an instrumental version of “My Old Kentucky Home’ right before the wedding processional. Music is a foundational part in both of our lives and although we no longer play instruments, we took time to carefully select each song for our processional music to represent those walking down the aisle.

During cocktail hour we live-streamed the Kentucky Derby for our guests so they could cheer on their favorite horse. We decorated our bistro tables at cocktail hour with red roses in bourbon bottles. Our reception centerpieces incorporated roses and hydrangeas, white, with silver accents and candles on some tables. We used Kentucky Derby winners for the table numbers to have a small piece of the Derby in our reception space. And finally, we featured some uniquely Kentucky food and drinks. We decided to serve mini hot browns at cocktail hour so that our guests could enjoy a native Kentucky dish. Our cocktails were a Kentucky Oaks Lily and a Keeneland Breeze. For our beer, we served Country Boy and we had a wine selection as well. We took the same approach when choosing our first dance songs with our parents, our recessional music, and grand entrance songs. We danced our first dance to a mashup of “In the Mood” by Glenn Miller and “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” by Harry James. In high school, Michael and I would go to our school’s Jazz Band Dance, and every year the band featured “In the Mood” as the song for the swing dance competition. Every year that we competed, we won the swing dance competition. We chose Harry James “It’s Been a Long, Long time” because we’re big marvel fans and we felt that it also described our relationship.

Our photographer deserves a special shout out. Sarah photographed our Senior High Prom, which Michael and I attended together as dates. This brought our story with Sarah to a full circle. Another shout out is needed for our pastor, Rick, who officiated our wedding. Rick was my home church pastor, he baptized and confirmed me into the church and watched me grow up.

Bride’s Advice: Plan time for you and your new spouse to enjoy each other’s time on your special day. For example, as early as the first meeting with our wedding planner, I made sure that Michael’s and my dinner would be served in a private area for us, so that we could simply enjoy each other’s company. During that time we got to share our getting ready stories, and discuss our favorite things so far for the day. It helps you remember more of the day when you can take just a few minutes to breathe and spend quality time together.

Photography: Sarah Herron Photography | Location: Bowling Green | Venue: Ironwood | Florals: Dafnel DeVasier | Wedding Planner: Tootie Finkbone, Allie Coode of Events by Allie Coode | Caterer: La Gala | Dessert: The Pie Queen of BG, Riley’s Bakery, Sugar Bakers | Rentals: A Family Affair Event Rentals, Bowling Green Tent Rentals | Music: DJ Brady Chaney | Stationery + Paper Goods: Terry Caturano | Hair: Bailey Skinner, Morgan Barnardhttps | Makeup: Connie Bratcher, Sabrina Holdcraft of Davenport + Co. | Bride’s Attire: Disney Fairy Tale Wedding Allure Bridal Collection - Snow White D-297 from The White Room | Groom’s Attire: Men's Wearhouse | Credits: (Bridesmaids’ Dresses) Reverly (Bar) Mike Zeh